Does reaching the end of your reproductive years lead to increased libido?

Women in their 30s and 40s appear to be more sexually adventurous than their younger counterparts. A recent University of Texas at Austin study reports that women may want to capitalize on their remaining childbearing years through enhanced sexual activity.

Results from questionnaires indicate that childless women in their 30s and 40s think more about sex; have more frequent and intense sexual fantasies; are more willing to engage in sexual intercourse; and report engaging in sexual intercourse more frequently than women of other age groups. This includes one- night stands, willingness to have casual sex and more adventurous bedroom behavior. The authors propose a woman’s biological clock may function to drive sexual behavior to better utilize remaining fertility.

Published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, the paper found that women ages 27-45 have a heightened sex drive in response to their “dwindling fertility.” Investigators split 827 survey participants into three groups: high fertility (ages 18-26), low fertility (ages 27-45), and menopausal (ages 46 and up). Participants were questioned about their sexual attitudes and behavior.

In the study, researchers split 827 women into three groups: high fertility (ages 18-26), low fertility (27-45), and menopausal (46 and up). The respondents answered an online questionnaire about their sexual attitudes and behavior.

Of note, despite more frequent thoughts of sexual activity and more intense sexual fantasies, low fertility women didn’t fantasize more about someone other than their current partner. Their significant others were the subject of sexual fantasy in equal proportion to others. Reports on male sexual fantasies don’t reflect similar partner loyalty.

When it comes to motherhood, according to Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends, moms of newborns across all races and ethnic groups are older and better educated than their counterparts in 1990. They’re also less likely to be white and married. Births to teens have declined while births to women ages 35 and older grew 64% during the past 20 years. A record 41% of U.S. births were to unmarried women in 2008.

Childlessness has risen across all racial and ethnic groups: 1 in 5 American women fail to bear children, compared to 1 in 10 who reached menopause during the 1970s. And the rate of childlessness is even higher for women with advanced degrees: The most educated women are still among the least likely to have a child. However, there was a 22% decline in childlessness for women with a masters, doctoral or professional degree, meaning more of these women are deciding to have babies.

When asked about why they decided to have their first child, the overwhelming majority of survey mothers answered, “The joy of having children.” But nearly half of them also said, “There wasn’t a reason – it just happened.”

The authors guess there are ingrained psychological mechanisms rooted in each gender’s adaptive responses to declines in fertility. Their research suggests that women’s psychology adapts to childlessness and declining fertility by shifts in their reproductive behavior until menopause.